Liberal Old Lady

Author of women’s fiction, blogger on current events and women’s experience

My life would be simpler if I didn’t care—if I gave little thought to national issues such as the 2016 elections, equal opportunities for all within our justice system, the disintegration of our environment, women’s reproductive rights.

My life would be simpler if I didn’t care about relationships—if I gave little thought to the man I married when I was twenty-one, my adult children, my grandchildren, to the well-being of friends.

But I do pay attention. I do think about issues and people. And I respond to my thoughts and concerns through writing.

I care about girls’ education in developing countries and in the U.S.

At age 16 Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head on a school bus in Pakistan after she started a campaign for girls’ education. She recovered in Birmingham and has since been honored as the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I care about domestic violence victims, women and men.

produced by FaithTrust Institute, Seattle, WA

I care about human trafficking.

Twice I had the privilege of accompanying my husband to Seoul, ROK, for a semester. Each Wednesday surviving Comfort Women, sexual slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II, along with their supporters, gather in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. In 2005 I twice joined them.

Human trafficking isn’t just a problem of the past.

South Korean women, who say they were forced to serve Japanese soldiers as sex slaves during World War Two, shout slogans during an anti-Japan protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul March 30, 2011. The protesters demanded an official apology over the issue that Japan systematized “comfort women” during the war, and asked for full compensation for the victims from the Japanese government. Elderly Chinese and Korean women forced to work as “comfort women” for Japanese troops have had little success in pressing their case for compensation. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak (SOUTH KOREA – Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS)

I care about racial justice.

Protesters hold a sign that reads “Don’t Shoot” as they attend an evening rally Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2014, in Tacoma, Wash. Several hundred people attended the peaceful gathering to show support for protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, where the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown has sparked nightly clashes between protesters and police. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

I care about environmental issues.

Photo by James N. Poling

I care about families of all kinds.

We dare not trust government or corporations to ensure a secure future (safe communities, clean air, clean water) for our children and grandchildren. We must all do what we can.